WWE Divas Championship
| firstchamp = Kelly Kelly }} The WWE Divas Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is competed for by WWE Divas. The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced in storyline by then-SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw's Women's Championship. Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion on July 20, 2008 when she defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash. After former Divas Champion Maryse was drafted to Raw as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, she took the title with her. Michelle McCool won a match to "unify" both the WWE Divas & Women's titles at the September 19, 2010, WWE pay per view, Night of Champions 2010, thus creating the Unified Divas Championship. The championship is generally contested in professional wrestling matches, in which participants execute scripted finishes. History With the first WWF Brand Extension, a storyline division in which WWE assigns its employees to a different program, the other being Raw, in 2002, the WWF Women's Championship was to be defended on both brands. At some point that year, however, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. Thereafter, only Divas on the Raw brand were able to compete for the WWF Women's Championship, while the Divas on the WWF SmackDown brand were unable to compete for a women's-exclusive championship. However, on a few occasions the regulation was bypassed with Melina, Ashley, Torrie Wilson and Nidia challenging for the title while on the SmackDown! brand, but none were successful. As a result, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship and introduced it in a storyline on the [[June 6, 2008 Smackdown results|June 6, 2008 episode of Friday Night SmackDown]] when then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the title. The championship belt was officially unveiled on the [[July 4, 2008 Smackdown results|July 4, 2008 episode of SmackDown]]. After winning respective matches to earn the opportunity to wrestle for the new championship, Michelle McCool defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash to become the inaugural champion. When Maryse won the title from McCool in December 2008, she dislocated her kneecap at a live event later that month. Similar to how Trish Stratus kept the Women's Championship when she was sidelined with a herniated disc in 2005, Maryse was able to keep the Divas Title upon her return in late January 2009. As part of the 2009 WWE Draft, then-Divas Champion Maryse was one of the people drafted to the Raw brand, in the process making the championship exclusive to Raw. It was announced on the August 30, 2010 episode of Raw that the Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship at a match at Night of Champions. And with that, the title (known briefly as the WWE Unified Divas Championship) is now accessible to both WWE brands and the champion can appear on both shows. Reigns The inaugural champion was Michelle McCool, who defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008 in Uniondale, New York. Maryse was the first Canadian to win the Divas title and is currently the longest reigning WWE Divas Champion in history, holding the belt for 216 days, while Jillian is the shortest reigning champion, with her reign lasting four minutes and thirty seconds. Maryse, Melina, Michelle McCool, and Eve Torres are also the record holders for the most Divas Championship reigns with two reigns, with Maryse being the first to achieve this. The current champion is Beth Phoenix who is in her first reign. She defeated Kelly Kelly for the title at Hell in a Cell 2011. 2010 WWE Divas title Tournament A tournament was announced to crown a new champion after former champion Melina was stripped of the title due to injury. The first round started on January 4, 2010. Title Tournament Round One :*Maryse defeated Brie Bella on January 4, edition of RAW. :*Gail Kim defeated Jillian on Janaury 7, edition of WWE Superstars. :*Alicia Fox defeated Kelly Kelly on January 11, edition of RAW. :*Eve Torres defeated Katie Lea Burchill on January 11, edition of RAW. Semi Final :*Maryse defeated Eve Torres on January 25, edition of RAW. :*Gail Kim defeated Alicia Fox on January 25, edition of RAW. Final :*Maryse defeated Gail Kim to win the vacant title on February 22, edition of RAW. 108861577-260x260-0-0_wwe+wwe+divas+championship+commemorative+replica+b.jpg|WWE Divas Championship Belt (2008-present) Designs See also *World Wrestling Entertainment *Champion history - History of the wrestlers who have held the belt. *Title matches - Matches in which the title was defended. *Champion gallery - A gallery of all champions. External links *WWE Divas Championship at WWE.com *WWE Diva's Championship at CAGEMATCH.net Category:World Wrestling Entertainment championships Category:Women's championships Category:Singles championships